The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-04-07
BIG HOTEL FIRE.
Total Destruction of One OF the Largest
Hotels In California-Other Fires

TOTAL DeSIEuCIlOn OA On6 OF tno L8rkc96
Hotels I'm CalIfornia-Other Fires
MONTEREY, Cal, April 4.-Fire Saturday
morning destroyed the great Hotel DEL
Monte, owned by the Southern Pacific Rail-
road Company. The house was crowded
with guests but all escaped without injury,
though their clothing was all destroyed.
The total loss will be over Sl,OO,OOO- The.
fire was first noticed in the lavatory by j.
! c. Marshall of Philadelphia, and the clerk
| was quickly informed of the fact and he
| called up the servants, who, think
ing they could check the flames without.
trouble, and fearing that panic might be-
| caused by q sudden alarm, went TO work to-
1 extinguish the hre without rousing the
i guests. The hotel was provided with hose
in every corridor; with fire extinguishers-
! in every hallway and the system Of water
works was capable Of throwing q stream to-
the height OF hundred feet The clerk
and his assistants turned on the water.
when they were Mortified to find that the
| force was so weak as barely to give forth a.
sprinkle. They rushed to turn on addi--
tional streams, with similar results. It.
soon became evident that they could not.
control the flames and an alarm was given,
servants rushing through the halls and
calling on the guests TO get up and fly for
| their lives. Men, women and children
| dashed from their rooms clad only in their
night clothes and such wraps as they
could snatch from the beds. They
! had to dash through smoke and
! fame on the lower floor to find place OF
safety. Many ladies could not summon up.
! courage to face the fire and fed shrickingtO.
| the windows Of the floors above The hook
and ladder comnany connected with the
hotel was soon at work and ladders were.
run up to the second and third stories,
down which servants carried the women
and children who were afraid TO face the,
smoke and flames on the lower floor. The
clerk, who was first notified of the fire,
made strenuous efforts with his brigade,
to put out the flames, but water
could not be got. The fire was dis
covered fifteen minutes before the
alarm was given and five minutes
after the alarm the last guest was out OF
| the house. The terror of the night was
made worse by pitchy darkness, for soon
after the fire broke out the gas main burst.
and the hotel was plunged in gloom. The
frightened guests huddled together on the.
lawn and beneath trees. The bowling alley
| and saloon, which are about one hundred
yards from the hotel, were given up to the
use of the ladies and children, and oil the
mattresses and bedding that were saved
were placed there for their use. Much OF
the luggage of the guests was IN the annex,
the last part of the building to catch fire
and nearly all of which was saved, but most.
| of the luggage in the main buildings
was lost. Nearly all the things in the safe
were saved. In less than half an hour the
huge building was enveloped in flames, and
within three hours was totally consumed,
the only vestige remaining being the brick
| chlmneys. The total losses, including the
losses of the guests, will probably reach a
million and half. The only guest who
was injured was Captain Scott, a Boston
| capitalist, who burned his hands in too
| rapid descent on q rope from the window of
the room he occupied. From the fact that
the water pipes had been tampered with
and that Immediately after the first out
break of fire flames were noticed IN another
part of the buildings, 1t is firmly believed
it is the work of an incendiary. The hotel
| will be rebuilt.
FRENCH FLATS IN FLAMES.
PITTsBURGH, Pa, April 4.-Smith's block,
| five-stOry French fiat structure on Wylie-
avenue, was badly damaged by fire at nine
o'clock Saturday morning. The building
was occupied by ten families, who lost
nearly all their effects The fire started in
the basement and the flames quickly shot
up the elevator shaft, spreading to all parts
| of the building. A panic cnsued among
the occupants of the three upper floors
and number of persons barely escaped
with their lives. Mrs. Hinchman and
Mrs. Osmond were taken from the
| fourth floors almost suffOcated, while Mrs
| Wilt, visitor, made her escape from the
story by means of rope suspended from
the roof, which had been used in raising
articles to the upper floors. William Henry
Smith, owner of the building, who had n
merchant tailoring establishment on the
first floor, was painfully burned about the
head and face while trying to eXtlngulsh
the flames, and his son, who forced his way
into the burning building. was also badly
singed. The total loss was about S31 900;
the insurance So, 600.
DESTRUCTIVE FIRE.
NASHVILLE, Tenn, April 4-Clarksville,
Tenn, yesterday suffered the most destruc-
| tive fire in it's history, there being four
| alarms between four a. m. and seven p. m,
and the losses aggregating S2jO,OO The
first alarm was from a shoe shop between
Second aud Commerce streets, the strong
| wind sweeping the flames to Franklin street
before it was checked At eleven a. m. a sec
J ond alarm sounded, the smOuldering flames
| leaping up again and several Of the larg-
| est buildings were burned to the ground
| At three p. m. an alarm was sounded for
fire in the Franklin Hotel, and at two p
m. for fire in the Elder House, but both
were extinguished with slight loss. First
street and part Of Franklin street is swept
clean, twenty -four buildings being burned
The origin of the fire is unknown. There
was great excitement.
BODIES FOUND.
BUFFALO, N. Y, April 4-Saturday f. work
| men on the ruins of the Richmond Hotel
fire found portions of a charred human body
entirely beyond recognition. The remains
were taken out in pieces and put in box
1t is thought to be the body of Mark Os-
/ borne the day clerk.
| In the afternoon the trunk of another
| body was found in the Richmond Hotel ru-
ms The head and legs were missing. It.
was the body of man, and it was without
doubt that of r. s. Boyd, of Boston, the
Bell Telephones Company's special agent
Died on an Ice FIoe.
ST. JOHNS, N F., April "A party OF
sealers went from the shore Of the channel
/ Of III m